sign in sign up
<<
Home , Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Digital Sky Survey maps the entire sky, providing new data to astronomers 5 January 2021, by Marissa Shapiro

in June 2020. That discovery boosted the potential for a joint effort with SDSS data.

"SDSS-V will magnify the exoplanet discoveries from TESS, both retrospectively and prospectively," Stassun said. "Retrospectively in the sense that SDSS-V data will provide a rich characterization of the chemical makeup of the exoplanet systems that TESS has already discovered; prospectively in the The ’s fifth generation made its sense that SDSS-V will provide the same rich first observations earlier this month. This image shows a characterization for millions of whose planets sampling of data from those first SDSS-V data. The TESS has yet to find. Even more prospectively, the central sky image is a single field of SDSS-V combination of SDSS-V and TESS data will enable observations. The purple circle indicates the telescope’s us to confidently identify the promising planets field-of-view on the sky, with the full Moon shown as a size comparison. SDSS-V simultaneously observes 500 whose atmospheres we will study for habitability targets at a time within a circle of this size. The left panel with the upcoming Twinkle mission." shows the optical-light spectrum of a –a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant Set to launch in late 2023, Twinkle will deliver , which is surrounded by a disk of hot, glowing unprecedented satellite telescope data about the gas. The purple blob is an SDSS image of the light from elemental composition of exoplanet atmospheres. this disk, which in this dataset spans about 1 arcsecond Vanderbilt and The Ohio State University have on the sky, or the width of a human hair as seen from become founding members of the mission. about 21 meters (63 feet) away. The right panel shows the image and spectrum of a –the left-behind core of a low-mass (like the Sun) after the end of its Further, the latest SDSS-V data will inform the life. Credit: Hector Ibarra Medel, Jon Trump, Yue Shen, research of Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Gail Zasowski, and the SDSS-V Collaboration. Central Physics Jessie Runnoe, whose work primarily background image: unWISE / NASA/JPL-Caltech / focuses on —supermassive black holes D.Lang (Perimeter Institute) that feed on disks of gas and dust in the centers of distant .

Quasars give off a tremendous amount of light The fifth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey energy, and Runnoe studies the environments that is collecting data about our for Vanderbilt make them or cause them to change over time. The University astronomers and other project members latest release from SDSS-V will enable her to to use to explore the formation of distant galaxies digest huge quantities of data into new and supermassive black holes, and to map the observations and conclusions. The new data will . make it much easier to see how, when and why quasars are changing, Runnoe explains. The SDSS-V will make full use of existing satellites, including NASA's Transiting Exoplanet "Quasars are so far away that capturing an image Survey Satellite mission, to lead to new discoveries makes it look like it's a star," Runnoe said. "The . Keivan Stassun, Stevenson Professor of Physics real action is looking at how the energy, or light, and Astronomy, is co-investigator of NASA TESS, output of quasars appears when it's spread out which enabled the discovery of a newly formed over different wavelengths. Having consistent data

1 / 3

over time from SDSS-V will help us create a benchmark to understand how quasars really Provided by Vanderbilt University behave."

Operating out of in New Mexico and in Chile, SDSS has been providing publicly available data since 1998. This survey has given scientists the tools to create the most detailed map yet of the known universe, discover earth-like planets and observe other celestial bodies.

"The quantity of information provided by SDSS-V is astronomical in both senses of the word. We are looking forward to turning this data into a new understanding of our place in the universe with Prof. Runnoe," said Andreas Berlind, co-director of Vanderbilt's Data Science Institute and associate professor of physics and astronomy.

In a release, program director at the Sloan Foundation Evan Michelson said, "SDSS-V will continue to transform astronomy by building on a 20-year legacy of path-breaking science, shedding light on the most fundamental questions about the origins and nature of the universe. It demonstrates all the hallmark characteristics that have made SDSS so successful in the past: open sharing of data, inclusion of diverse scientists, and collaboration across numerous institutions." The release also highlights the leadership role of Vanderbilt Research Assistant Professor Jon Bird in the overall design and implementation of the SDSS-V mission.

"Supermassive black holes eat like the Cookie Monster—more comes out than comes in," said Runnoe, also a faculty affiliate at the Data Science Institute. "My interest is in understanding environments that feed these black holes. I am looking forward to maximizing the data we have, it's a great challenge."

Runnoe believes this publicly available data will encourage critical thinking and allow researchers to better communicate their findings to the general public. "We're getting into an era where we're making movies out of the sky, not just pictures," said Runnoe. "It's exciting to unravel mysteries we've been stuck on."

2 / 3

APA citation: Digital Sky Survey maps the entire sky, providing new data to astronomers (2021, January 5) retrieved 2 October 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-01-digital-sky-survey-entire- astronomers.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

3 / 3

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)